iPhone X v iPhone 8 — What’s the Difference?

At the Apple event last night, the tech giants pulled a fast one on consumers by unveiling not only the anniversary iPhone X (as in iPhone ‘10’), but they also lifted the lid on the iPhone 8 and it’s 8 plus variant. For some time, it was believed that the iPhone X, celebrating the iPhone’s tenth anniversary, actually was the follow-up to the iPhone 7 but that appears not to be the case.

The specs released for both phones are a little light at the moment, with a bit of uncertainty around which functions are going into which phone, but it appears as though the iPhone X will be pushing the envelope in terms of technology, while the iPhone 8 is going to be a more conventional continuation of their smartphone line up; so our focus is mainly going to be on the ground-breaking tech Apple have planned for the X.

iPhone 8

iPhone X, the iPhone 8 & iPhone 8 plus.

So, to start us off, the iPhone 8 will feature a glass construction, which makes it water and dust resistant, facilitates wireless charging, and will come in the 4.7-inch screen size for the normal version, and a 5.5-inch screen for the plus, both running iOS 11. It will also contain Apple’s updated A11 chipset, meaning its performance and hardware power will be upgraded noticeably from the iPhone 7. While the glass construction is quite a bold move, considering Apple’s recent history with the 6’s issues regarding bending, their real innovation wasn’t aimed at the iPhone 8 – but rather the X.

iPhone X

The biggest difference between the 8 and the X in terms of design is that the X has no home button and it will make use of an “all-screen” design, so the bezels and edges to the screen are effectively non-existent. The lack of a home-button means the usual Touch ID technology has been replaced – and as rumours suggested, the new unlocking technology will be facial recognition. A slight hiccup was experienced when they showcased the feature on stage, but Apple promise the technology is safe and even more effective than Touch ID – the jury is out on those claims right now, though.

As usual, Apple like to include cute gimmicks to push their products – and the X doesn’t disappoint in this regard. The X will include updated emoji functionality that Apple calls “animoji”, which animates emoji icons according to the user’s facial expression for a more personalised touch to your smartphone ramblings. Additional features reserved for the X are a more hardy and long-lasting battery, and a 458 dpi resolution screen that has been dubbed a “super retina” display.

The pricing for the Apple X will be around $1,000 (around R13,000), and the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 plus will be $700 (around R9,100) and $800 (around R10,400) respectively, with preorders for the 8’s starting in late September, while the X will only be available to preorder from the end of October.

Apple have taken some impressive risks with the iPhone’s anniversary edition, that they hope will be the launch pad for the future of their smartphone lineup, but are they all going to pay off or will there be some growing pains?

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